The Ivy House — Restaurant in Milwaukee

Ivy House was the last venue we saw, and the minute that we walked in, my husband and I knew it was the ONE. There’s something special in the air there, for real. With the exposed brick, abundance of plants, beautiful wood, and massive bar, it’s truly a gorgeous atmosphere. We felt like we had walked into a dream. Add in that neon sign, and the insanely beautiful bridal suite, and we knew that we had to get married there.

Every step of the way from our first tour with Tyler up to our wedding day, we felt 100% listened to and taken care of with every detail. On our tour with Tyler, we had 1 million questions, and he had 1 million answers. Whatever requests we made were met with either a “We’ll make it happen or find a way to make sure you’re satisfied.” We were unable to hire a florist or event staff for a room flip and worried it would stop us from having our ceremony at Ivy House, but Tyler had about ten different solutions for us. He was available over email for every little question, and we knew we were in good hands right away.

Sarah was our main contact, and she was incredible with helping us plan and finalize every detail. She went above and beyond to make sure we felt comfortable and well taken care of. I am extremely Type A and thought I was organized--but I have NOTHING on Sarah Raver. Every detail I was concerned about, Sarah breezed through and problem solved. When the day came, I had literally zero nerves. Sarah checked in frequently, organized vendors, and made me feel like I could relax in the insanely beautiful bridal suite. I truly didn’t have to think about a thing. Sarah had the checklists, the timelines, the vendor contact information. I just had to sit back, drink champagne, and say I Do. Our night was perfect--in huge part because Sarah made sure we enjoyed every minute and didn’t have to lift a finger. She danced with us, chatted all night, and made us feel like all stars.

Gene was our DJ and again, I cannot say enough about him. Obviously, his playlist was amazing, but Gene was so much more than a DJ. He was there every minute with a drink refill for us, checking in to see if we needed anything, making sure we were happy with every detail, and keeping the night running right on schedule. Before the wedding, we sat down with Gene and talked about our must plays, our absolutely do not plays, any potential problems we saw coming up, exactly what we wanted the ceremony to look like, and what he could do to make our day perfect. Gene helped me pull off a surprise performance for my husband without a hitch, and everyone raved about how seamlessly he kept the night going. Again, we just got to sit back, sip the drinks that Gene handed us, and have a great time. We were dancing past midnight, and had a blast. Milwaukee Airwaves is #1, for real.

Mo was one of our bartenders, and he and the ENTIRE bartending staff absolutely KILLED IT. We received so many comments from our guests about how well organized, friendly, and fun all of the Ivy House staff were. The drinks, conversation, and good vibes never stopped flowing.

We spent a year of our lives planning our wedding with the staff at Ivy House, and by the time it was all over, we felt like we were part of a really small and really special family. Everyone was so excited for our wedding day, and knew so much about the day and about the two of us. Getting married is such a personal experience, and with Ivy House, the personal touches and concern never stop. Whenever we walked in for a planning meeting, we were greeted with hugs and glasses of wine and genuine excitement and interest in our planning process. They take the time to get to know all of their couples, and to make sure your wedding day is absolutely perfect. Thinking about our wedding planning process, I don’t think about the stress of planning, I think about the JOY in knowing how many people were ready to make my dreams come true and cheering me on...

The only difficult thing about writing a review for the Ivy House is finding the words to do it justice. As we looked for venues we obviously loved the look and feel of the venue. I haven’t met anyone who wasn’t blown away by the space - that part speaks for itself, but none the less I’ll say that pictures from our friends alone were stunning and we cannot wait to see how our photographer’s pictures turned out from that gorgeous patio.

What is not obvious from their pictures is how absolutely incredible the whole staff is. In our venue search we had so much fun talking to Tyler as we brainstormed our big day that we felt we had to book Ivy House. The service you receive at a venue can make or break your experience and everyone at the Ivy House made our day and the whole process leading up to it the best experience of our lives. In the months leading up to our wedding, Tyler and Ramsey both were very responsive and accommodating to our questions. Ramsey was there to walk our other vendors through the space when they wanted to understand the layout, and Tyler always got back to our emails and texts. Tyler has a laid back persona that is a calming presence and yet he’s also very serious and genuine. Every conversation felt like we were talking to an old friend. We could tell he really understood our personalities. It was obvious in every conversation we had with him that he remembered not only who we were but small details about our lives that we had shared with him. That personal connection does not come natural to everyone in the service industry and Tyler’s care and concern for our happiness was very special to us. We are only sad that now we don’t have a reason to hang out with Tyler.

When we met with our DJ Gene, we instantly felt a similar connection to him. He was super funny, was willing to show us past set lists, and had many ideas of different directions a reception set list could go. We sent him individual songs for each couple in our grand march, which he accommodated, he played every song we requested, and introduced us to new jams that were right in our wheel house. He did an AMAZING job! He was super kind, attentive, and knows how to read a crowd. By the end of the night my knees and feet were killing me from dancing so hard but I couldn’t get myself to take a break because he kept the jams going! I’m writing this review two days after our wedding and I still have absolutely zero voice from singing so loudly all night. We knew going into our wedding that a DJ is probably the most critical part in determining the success of a reception and Gene knocked it out of the park. We wanted to invite him to our recovery party the next day but figured it’d be creepy. But we love you Gene!

The bar staff were all wonderful as well. We had only met Matt once before our wedding and on the day of we felt we had a history with him as well. Everyone there just made our night so special. If we could throw a party there every weekend we would... but it’d probably kill me. We cannot give a higher recommendation of the Ivy House and Milwaukee Airwaves as a whole. During our wedding process we were able to attend an event at their space called the Filament as well and it was just as beautiful! Knowing how excellent their staff is I am sure all of their venues are worth...

There literally could not be a more PERFECT venue than the Ivy House. They were a dream to work with not to even mention how beautiful their space is. From the very first meeting the staff was welcoming, helpful, excited and able to answer any questions that came up. They literally are there to help put on the wedding of your dreams. We honestly didn’t even look at other spaces because this was so perfect.

The owners and staff would repeatedly tell us “this is your space, come as often as you’d like” so during the planning process we felt so loved and welcomed to swing by if we had any questions, wanted to brainstorm, or just be in the space. Because the Ivy House is already so well decorated the decorations we needed were very minimal and the ones we had just helped highlight the beautiful space that was already there.

As time went on and the wedding got closer and closer, Tyler, our lead for the day answered every single random little question I had with kindness and NEVER once made me feel like I was annoying or worried about little things. He went above and beyond to make us laugh and remind us that this was all supposed to be fun! He literally helped us create this day perfectly - anytime I would ask “can I do this” or “will this work like this?” He would respond “we’ll make it happen - it’s your day!”

Day of, they allowed us to use the “bridal suite” or “penthouse” as early as we wanted - and left us alone to use it however we’d like to get ready. We brought snacks, mimosas and had a blast. The space they provide is absolutely stunning and perfect for “getting ready photos” - everything in that room makes for a PERFECT backdrop - even the hallway walking up the stairs!

Tyler and Dave ( the DJ) were absolutely wonderful at getting us ready and ensuring the timing the ceremony went perfectly. Super calm and happy and making sure we were also feeling the same seemed to be their top priority. The bartenders all night were smiling and had the best customer service. We received multiple compliments from our guests on how wonderful the service was (and we had a lot of service industry guests so the bar was raised high)!

Every single staff member went out of their way to make sure that both myself and my bride had a drink in hand and to check in with us periodically throughout the night to ensure everything was going smoothly for us. I even had heartburn and one of the bartenders went to the office to search for tums (she brought be back 4!!). Our party drank a lot of coffee and we stayed and danced late - and every Ivy House staff had a smile on their face their entire time. We cannot thank them enough for helping make this day so unbelievably perfect. I would recommend this venue...